


On the Subject of Siblings

by queen_scribbles



Category: Pillars of Eternity
Genre: Backstory, Gen, sibling fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-22
Updated: 2017-12-22
Packaged: 2019-02-18 11:28:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,298
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13099143
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/queen_scribbles/pseuds/queen_scribbles
Summary: Flashback fic for a look at Tavi's relationship with her brothers before Everything Went to ShitTM, written for Pillars Prompt #19: Family





	On the Subject of Siblings

**Author's Note:**

> In which we get Illani sibling interactions and I get mad at myself for giving Tavi a “Yeah, they’re all dead” backstory. 
> 
> Oh, and Casius is pronounced “Cash-us”, so when she called him Cas, it’s actually “Cash”

 

Tavi was nine when the twins were born. The change from only child to older sister would have been enough of an adjustment on its own. There being _two_ of them to _one_ of her was just an unnecessary complication in her opinion.

Not that her opinion on this topic _mattered_ much. She’d had no input on the subject of siblings, and while she didn’t _resent_ the twins, there was no denying their arrival flipped things topsy-turvy. She didn’t mind; Malachi and Casius kept Mom busy enough it had taken her three whole _weeks_ to notice Tavi had started wearing the lanky neighbor boy’s hand me down trousers instead of dresses, the cuffs rolled up or cut off to make them the right length. And even after Mom noticed, she was too frazzled to actually _do_ anything beyond lecture. Tavi did not stop wearing the trousers, but she _did_ start helping more with the twins. Casius grabbed her nose, Malachi pulled her hair(when he could reach), and both of them were saying her name shortly after Mama. By the time they were three, they were following her like little strawberry blond ducklings, and trying to climb her at every opportunity. It was very difficult to fend them both off at once; when she peeled Casius off, Malachi made progress and vice versa. They weren’t afraid to use this to their advantage, so these attempts usually ended with a defeated Tavi sprawled on the floor with two victorious toddlers sitting on her. 

“They just love you,” Mom laughed when Tavi grumped about peeling little brothers off herself like leeches.

“Can’t they love me from a distance sometimes?” she pleaded, but it wasn’t until they were six and learned to read that she got her wish. Maybe more than she bargained for. It took Malachi a while to get the hang of reading, but both boys enjoyed it immensely, and Tavi found herself duckling-free a large portion of the time. She enjoyed it. Usually.

                                                                                                                                                                     <<>>  <<>>  <<>>

Bare feet pounded against the ground, laughter trailing back like a standard as dust clouds rose around bony ankles and tan fingers tightened around their prize.

“Khellin, that’s _mine_!” Malachi’s tone was that wonderful swirl of plaintive exasperated irritation only family--specifically, troublemaking little brothers--could provoke.

Tavi rolled her eyes as she watched her brothers run rampant loops around their house, the neighbor’s house, and even back into the woods a couple times. She really should stop them. There would be complaints, and then Mom would lecture, and her lectures were always inclusive; all four of her children got an earful. Except for the couple times Tavi had started fights. She’d gotten a private dressing down for those. Probably because her parents knew Khellin looked up to her and they didn’t want to put ideas in his head.

On the other hand, Tavi mused, smiling as Khellin shrieked with laughter, this little nook on the roof was her only place for solitude no one in the family had found yet.. She wasn’t sure she wanted to risk sacrificing it.

“Khel, _give it_!” Malachi demanded.

Tavi winced. This really was unfair to him. Even at six, Khellin could almost keep up with _her_. Neither of the twins stood a chance against him in a footrace, especially one where he could use the terrain in his favor.

 _Just b’cause you and Khel are kindred spirits doesn’t mean you have to take his side in everything_ , a little voice whispered in her mind.

Tavi sighed and started to scooch out from behind the gable. That was true. She waited until the boys had looped into the woods again and slid down the roof, deftly catching the eaves. It was an easy drop to the roof of Mom’s gardening shed, and from there to the ground was barely five feet.

She was waiting when Malachi and Khellin came pelting out of the woods and back to their yard. Khellin saw her and tried to swerve away but Tavi reached out and caught his arm. “Uh-uh, not so fast.”

Malachi stumbled to a halt, breathing hard and leaving muddy streaks across his face when he tried to wipe away the dust and sweat. “He... He...”

“Slow down, Mal. Catch your breath,” Tavi advised, before turning to Khellin.  “Hylea’s wings, what did you _take_?!”

Khellin stopped half-heartedly tugging against her grip long enough to give her a lopsided smirk from under his dusty mop of hair and hold up his other hand. In it rested a sticky mess congealed around what was probably supposed to be a piece of fruit.

“He took my candied apple from Mestre Verzano!” Malachi finally managed, raking hair out of his eyes.

“Khellin.” Tavi had to fight a smile at the unapologetic grin that manifested itself across his face.

“He said not t’ touch it, I said he coul’n’t catch me if I _did_ , an’ he _laughed_ at me!” Khellin retorted indignantly, sticking his tongue out triumphantly at his older brother. “I _had to_ proof him wrong!”

“You know Mom’s gonna make you give him yours now, right?” Tavi pointed out as Khellin’s fingers curled once more around his prize.

His face fell. “Don’t wanna.”

“Well, you should’ve thought of that before you took his.” Part of her cringed at how much she sounded like her mother. Tavi knelt down next to him and whispered, “Give him yours an’ I’ll buy you an extra one.”

Khellin’s eyes lit up. “Promise?”

“Promise,” Tavi nodded. “But only _after_ you give Malachi your apple from Mestre Verzano.”

His shoulders slumped and he kicked the dust a couple times, but finally nodded. “Okay.”

                                                                                                                                                               <<>>  <<>>  <<>>

Of all her brothers, Casius was the last one Tavi expected to ever get in a fight. So when she caught him in the washroom, glasses cracked, bruise darkening his cheek, and back of his wrist pressed under an extremely bloody nose, there was really only one thing to say.

“What the fuck happened to you?” she demanded.

Casius winced. “ _Language_ , Tavi.”

“No, fuck that.” She stepped into the room and closed the door all the way.  “What happened?”

His gaze dropped to the floor. “Nothing.”

“Bulls-” She stopped herself before blurting her third curse inside a minute in front of her fourteen year old brother. “That’s not nothin’, Cas.”

“Cendo and Marceno took exception to how much better I did on our test than them,” he mumbled grudgingly. “They waited until after class to share their feelings with me.”

Tavi snorted. “Real civil of them. Is this all they did, or is there more?” She tipped up his chin. “Lemme see your nose.”

“It’s not broken, I swear,” Casius insisted, pulling away and wincing.

“Well, _something_ is, with that reaction,” she retorted

“Um...” Casius stumbled, paused. Finally, “Marceno may have kicked me in the ribs once. I don’t think they’re broken, just sore.”

Her jaw tightened. “I’m gonna kick their fuckin’ asses.” It was hard enough for Casius being a few years advanced in school and lacking friends his own age. For his classmates to react like this to a fucking _test grade_...

“No!” Casius grabbed her arm, streaking red against her skin. “It’ll make things worse if it looks like I need my big sister to protect me.”

Tavi forced herself to relax, largely to assure him she wasn’t about the go deliver a pair of well deserved ass kickings. “Ignoring bullies rarely fixes things, Cas.”

“I know.” He sniffed, checked his nose to see if it had stopped bleeding. Upon finding it had, he soaked a rag in the basin and started cleaning off the blood. “But I can handle things myself.”

“You sure, duckling?”

He grinned lopsidedly. “You haven’t called me that since Khellin was born.”

Tavi shrugged, gesturing for the rag so she could clean the spots he’d missed. “You and Malachi stopped followin’ me like  ducklings. An’ I figured you were too old.”

“...I’ve kind of missed it,” Casius admitted as he leaned his head back. “Not so much I want you to start using it again, or anything...”

She grinned, carefully swiping at the last traces of blood. “But it’s part of my job as your big sister to embarrass you. Duckling.”

He managed a weak smile and groaned. “Gods, please don’t. I have enough trouble making friends as it is.”

“Oh, fine. Since you asked nicely,” she teased. “But are you sure you can handle-”

“Yes.” He nodded firmly. “I can take care of it myself.”

“Alright. I’ll let you handle it. But if you change your mind and want me to kick their asses, just say the word. An’ I work with Cendo’s father sometimes, so I can just tell him what his kid’s been up to, if you’d rather.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” Casius said. “But I think I can handle them. Um, can you not say anything to Mom and Dad about this? They’ll worry, Mom’ll fuss, and that’s all sort of pointless now.”

“Unless you’re planning to tell them you walked into a door or somethin’, I think they’re gonna notice anyway,” Tavi pointed out. “But sure. I won’t say anything.” It was very hard to not go knock the stuffing out of the bullies in question, but she _did_ trust that Casius could handle himself, and besides, he had to develop the skills eventually. Still, if it took too long, she was going to do something.

A couple days later, Marceno and Cendo both wound up in the school infirmary briefly due to a “mishap” involving Arkemyr’s Dazzling Lights. The teacher, the healer, and the school all viewed it as an accident. Learning new spells, mistakes were bound to happen, no one had been seriously or permanently hurt, it was clearly an accident. Tavi might have agreed, if Casius didn’t relay the news looking like the cat who ate the canary.

                                                                                                                                                                                      <<>>  <<>>  <<>>

“And where are you going?” Given his split lip and the guilty look in his eyes, Tavi was pretty sure she could guess the answer.

“T’clean up,” Khellin mumbled, sucking on the split lip as if he could hide it.

“In _my_ washroom? ”

“It was closer?” he tried, clearly not expecting the excuse to work.

It didn’t. “You got in a fight again, didn’t you?”

“What was I s’pposed to do?” he protested, defiance creeping into his tone.  “Tomas was picking on the stray that lives behind the bank again! She has _kittens_ , I didn’t want him to hurt her!” Khellin gestured passionately as he spoke and Tavi caught his wrist, examining his bloody knuckles.

“Khellin...” she sghed. “I really gotta teach you how to punch or you’re gonna break your hand.”

He grinned, but only briefly thanks to his lip. “That would be good. I don’t think Tomas is gonna stop ‘less I make him. ‘Cause, y’know, no one cares what happens to strays.”

“If you’re that worried about her, you could bring her here,” Tavi suggested, tugging him toward her washroom. “Let’s get you cleaned up. Y’know, my of the house is separate enough she wouldn’t bother anybody, an’ I like cats.”

“I, um, tried already,” Khellin admitted, perching on the edge of the chair. “Got them all settled in a nice little nest in the back antechamber thingie, since you never use it, left the door cracked so the mom could still get out to wander. When I checked on ‘em in the mornin’ she’d carried all the kittens back to where they were before. Ow!” he yelped as Tavi cleaned the blood off his knuckles.

She frowned. “Wiggle your fingers.” He did, but winced in the process. “I _gotta_ teach you how to punch. ‘Specially if you’re gonna appoint yourself protector of strays everywhere.”

“Not ev’rywhere,” Khellin protested. “Just our town.”

“That’s still a tall order,” Tavi chuckled. She reached into the cabinet under the washstand for a small roll of bandages. “If I wrap that up right, we can tell Mom and Dad you cut it fallin’ out of a tree. They’ll fuss, but at least you won’t hear one of Dad’s speeches about violence not bein’ the answer.”

Khellin laughed and held out his hand. “Okay.”

“And try again with bringing the cat and her kittens here. This time, shut the door and just bring them food. Maybe if Mama Cat sees she doesn’t need t’ scavenge in order to eat, and that her babies are safe, she’ll stick around.”

He nodded. “We can try it, I guess.”

“But first things first, after dinner I’m at _least_ showing you how to throw a good right hook.”

Khellin grinned. “Deal.”

                                                                                                                                                                              <<>>  <<>>  <<>>

_Tavi stood staring at the pile of ash and embers and charred beams that used to be her family’s home, not sure if the tears spilling down her cheeks were from the ache in her heart or in her burned hands. Probably both. She blinked back a fresh wave as a breeze blew past and she could have sworn she heard Khellin’s laugh._

_But that was impossible, because he was_ dead _. So were her parents. And Casius. And Malachi. And someone had tried(and very nearly succeeded) to add her to that list._

_She wouldn’t let them. Out of sheer spite, sure, but also for her parents and her brothers. So she ran._

_The first night skulking in the woods, too paranoid to risk staying at an inn, Tavi started whittling. Trying to keep her mind busy and fingers moving. When she finished, the resulting figure was crude, rough, clearly a beginner’s attempt, but undeniably a duckling. Tavi looked at it, blinked back tears, and tried again. And again. And again, until the finished product was relatively respectable._

_She still kept the rough, childlike carving buried at the bottom of her pack for a long time._


End file.
